Senate approves changes to federal courts bill

A bill to transfer control of the National Native Title Tribunal to the Federal Court and merge the administrative functions of the Family Court and Federal Magistrates Court gained the approval of a Senate committee this week.

The bill comes as the FMC prepares to be renamed the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, which will coincide with the renaming of federal magistrates as judges.

High Court Chief Justice
Robert French
said in an introduction to a new report that this would mark an important change for the federal justice system.

“That is a change the importance of which should not be underestimated. It is likely to prove to be more than cosmetic," he said in a report on Australian courts released on Friday by the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration.

“It may well be a precursor to a widening and deepening of the jurisdiction of the court and its evolution towards a national federal trial court with economic efficiency benefits to litigants and government.

The Senate’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs committee said the federal courts’ bill should be passed, although Coalition senators urged for it to better reflect the requirements of the heads of the Family Court and FMC.

Family Court Chief Justice
Diana Bryant
and FMC Federal Magistrate
John Pascoe
wrote to the federal Attorney-General expressing their concerns on October 18 last year. The bill was introduced on October 31.

That letter specified that it would be “necessary, despite the administrative merger of the courts to be effected by this bill, for the establishment of separate principal registrar positions responsible for judicial administration", the Coalition senators said.

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“The government apparently acknowledges the need for these positions and has indicated at Senate estimates that it plans to give effect to the heads of jurisdictions proposals," they said.

“Given that the need for amendments has been acknowledged, it would be timely, and a much more efficient use of the Parliament’s time to introduce them when the bill comes before the Senate."

The Senate report was released in the same week that a new Senate inquiry on the effect of federal courts fee increases was announced after a proposal was put forward by the Greens.

The same Senate committee will analyse whether sweeping hikes in court filing fees, introduced by the federal government this year, are having a detrimental impact on access to justice and how the additional revenue is being used.